Training device



Jan. 15, 1963 J. BELL 3,073,602

TRAINING DEVICE Filed May 1, 1961 IN V EN TOR.

45 JOSEPH BELL 30 a 7 ATTORNEY 2' fm w I head with the ball.

United States Patent 3,073,602 TRAINING DEVICE Joseph Bell, 2325 1stSt., Napa, Calif. Filed May 1, 1961, Ser. N0. 106,791

' 9 Claims. (Cl. 273-186) -This vinvention relates to training devicesfor golfers, and more particularly, it relates to a device for assistingthe golfer in developing the correct putting stroke.

The putting phase of the game of golf is extremely important, and yetthe mastery of a consistently successful putting technique is a problemthat constantly challenges even the most experienced golfers. The basicproblem in putting is that of perfecting a stroke that will direct theclub head against the ball along a straight line coincident with theintended direction of travel of the ball, while at the same timeaddressing the ball with the club head perpendicular to this straightline of approach to the ball by the club head. Though seemingly a simplerequirement, this putting stroke must be precise and made withinextremely narrow limits. The slightest deviation inthe direction oftravel of the club head in its approach to the ball or any deviationfrom the perpendicular position of the club head face to the line oftravel during the impact on the ball, will-cause the ball to travel ina.directionother than the desired direction. ;;Most golfers are wellaware of the fundamental precision required in putting and they attemptto achieve this by applying the various elements of form recommended byprofessionals in executing the stroke such as the proper club grip, thestance, the back-swing and follow-through. However, since each golfer isdifferent, he must learn exactly to what degree his grip, stance, andswing must be alteredislightly in order to maintain (1) straight line oftravel of the club head during the down-swing or the approach to theball; and (2) the face of the club head perpendicular or square to theline of travelof the down-swing during the impact of the club Prior tomy invention, the golfer was unable to ascertain exactly how close hisactual stroke'was to fulfilling these essential requirements of theproper putting stroke. It is impossible for the human eye. to detect theslight imperfections in the direction of travel of the club stroke andthe position of the club head at the exact moment ofimpact with theball. My invention solves this problem by providing a device which firstdetects the imperfections or tendencies for error in theflgolfefsputting stroke so that they can be readily corrected. I

v For example, during the back-swing there is a natural tendency to rollthe wrists and the hands out clockwise. This opens the club face so thatit does not remain square with the putting line. This tendency can becorrected by adjusting the positions of the hands on the shaft of theputter. However, without my invention the amount of adjustment and theexact proper position for the hands cannot be readily ascertained.Another aspect of the back-swing, especially with regard to short putts,is that the club head should be kept low so that it just clips the grassas it approaches the ball along a straight line. My invention provides ameans to exercise the proper putting strokein this regard by allowing avariation of the club head in a vertical degree of freedom whilecontinuing to control it in the longitudinal direction. Once the golferlearns thecorrect stroke, he can then develop the feel of the club andthe body movement as the correct stroke is being made by exercising thestroke repetitively while being guided by my invention. Later he canthen easily repeat the proper stroke when actually playing the game,since all of the tendencies to deviat'e from this proper strokewill'have been eliminated. It is therefore one important object of myinvention' ice club square to this putting line. This objective is carried out by my novel device which first provides a means for indicatingerrors in the golfers form or deviations from the proper putting stroke.Once the golfer has made form corrections to correct his stroke, theinvention then provides a means for exercising this stroke untilperfection is reached and the proper stroke can be made under normalplaying conditions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for controllingthe stroke of a putter through its proper ideal movements whilesimulating the impact of the club on the ball.

Another object of the invention is to provide a putting strokeexercising device that willprovide a means for defining the correctputting stroke with respect to both elevation and the direction of theclub head during its approach to the ball.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device for analyzing andexercising a golf putting stroke which,

affords freedom of movement for the golf club head along the correctputting stroke path but which gives an immediate indication to thegolfer of: (1) any deviation from thestraight line approach to the pointof impact; and (2) any twisting from a position of the club head facethat is square to the putting line. Y

Still another object of the invention is to provide a putter exercisingdevice that can be used for either right or left handed players.

Another object of the invention is" to provide a trainw ing device fordefining a proper putting stroke and for exercising the stroke, whereinthe golf club head is visible according to the invention as shown inFIG. 1, the club head isalso shown in phantom in the back-swingposition; .FIG. 3 is an enlarged view in elevation showing the putterhead retaining means in detail;

FIG. 4 is a view in end elevation and in section taken along the line4-4 in FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one preferredform of my novel putting analyzer and exerciser 10 as it appears whenbeing used. A typical putting club 11 having a head 12 is shown beingheld by a golfers hands in a standard grip and in. a position forpracticing the proper putting stroke on the exerciser 10. The club headis shown at the point of impact with the ball and also in a back-strokeposition by the dotted lines. The club head 12 is rigidly attached to aflexible guiding means which is shown in the form of a belt 13 connectedbetween two spaced apart rollers 14 and 15. With this novel arrangement,the club head 12 can be moved easily back and forth through theback-stroke, the down-stroke, forward stroke, or the follow-throughportion of the putting stroke, and yet itis fixed to the belt 13 in'sucha manner that the reaction of the. belt 13 on the club head 12 willimmediately indicate visually or by feel of the putting clubl'l in thegolfers hands, any deviation from the proper putting stroke.

- The spaced apart rollers 14 and 15 are 1 preferablymountedonaxsupporting' base 16 which "rests on the ground level andsimulates the smooth putting green. The base 16 may be made from anysuitable material such as sheet metal or plastic, but I prefer to use alight sheet metal such as an aluminum alloy. I also prefer to providethe supporting base 16 with surface marking lines 17 which are spacedapart all across and run longitudinally along the top side of the base16. These surface markings 17 may be actual fluted indentations in thetop side of the supporting base 16 or they can be painted stripes, andthey provide an important function of giving the golfer a constantlongitudinal reference in the direction in which the proper straightputting stroke should be made. I have discovered that this is a definitefactor in helping the golfer to concentrate on this essential straightline characteristic of the putting stroke.

In cross-section as shown in FIG. 4, the supporting base 16 has acentral recessed portion 18 of uniform width along its length which isbordered by raised portions 19 having turned down edges 20. The edges 20may be doubled back for added strength and they preferably extenddownward to the level of the recessed portion 18 to provide support forthe base 16 when it is placed on a flat surface. In the form shown, thesupport base 16 can be readily fabricated in a single member with asimple forming operation. To assure a more stable mounting for the basemember 16 I may attach some suitable rubber mountings 21 at each of itscorners which serve re retain it in a fixed position on the floor or arug when m use.

Mounted at opposite ends of the base member 16 are the rollers 14 and15. Each of the rollers may be made from some suitable material such asplastic or wood, and each is preferably solid with, circular flangeportion 22 on both of their sides which form a uniform circular rollerarea 23 between said flange 22. Each roller 14 and 15 als'ois providedwith a central axle bore 24. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the roller 14 atone end of the base member l6 is permanently mounted thereon by L-shapedbrackets 25 that may be fixed by riveting or welding to the base member16. A shaft or bolt 26 is mounted in the brackets 25 and through thebore 24 of the roller 14 with enough clearance so that the roller 14will turn easily on the shaft 26. The roller 15 is similarly mounted atthe opposite end of the base member 16 by a bolt 27 through the rollerbore 24 and a pair of L-shaped brackets 28. The bolts 26 and 27 maybere- 'tained in position by any suitable, well known means such as acotton key or a nut or bolt arrangement (not shown). On the roller 15, Iprefer to mount the brackets28 by means of bolts 29 attached to nuts 30which pass through the brackets 28 and slots 31 in the base member 16.The slots 31 extend longitudinally along the base member 16 so that theroller 15 can be moved to adjust the tension in the flexible belt 13which passes around the rollers 14 and 15. f The flexible belt 13 is animportant component of my invention because as combined with the rollers14 and 15 it serves to control the actual path and position of the clubhead 12 during the putting stroke. The belt 13 is preferably made fromsome flexible but inelastic material such as a rubber impregnated orcoated fabric. In addition, I prefer to provide both sides of the belt13' with a slightly roughened texture or tread-like surface so that whenone portion of the belt 13 engages with and slides against anotherportion, a small but positive friction force accompanied bycharacteristic sound will take place. The importance of this feature inthe operation of my invention will be explained shortly. As shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, the belt 13 is continuous and is placed around each ofthe rollers 14 and 15. Fixed to' the upper surface of the top strand 32of the belt 13 is a putter head holder 33. e

The putter head holder 33 shown in detail in FIG. 3, maybe made from thesame material as the base member 16 and is bent in a right angular shapehaving a flat base portion 34 that is bonded to the belt 13 and anupwardly extending flange 35 which is adapted to engage the face 36 ofthe club head 12. A slot 37 is formed in the base portion 34 and throughthe belt 13. Slidable along the slot 37 is an adjustable retainingbracket 38 which is also generally L-shaped with a base flange portion39 adapted to lie parallel to the base portion 34 of the putter holder33 and an upwardly extending flange 40. A bolt 41 extends upward throughthe base flange portion of the bracket 38 and the slot 37 of the baseportion 34 and is threaded to a wing nut 42. Thus by loosening the Wingnut 42, the flange 40 of the movable bracket 38 can be moved tightlyagainst the rear surface of the putter head 12 whose face 36 is pressedagainst the upright flange 35 of the putter holder 33. The wing nut 42is then tightened and the putter head 12 is held in a fixed positionrelative to the belt 13. The putter holder 33 will accommodate varioustypes of putters such as blade putters or mallet head putters by theproper adjustment of the retaining bracket 38. Other modified forms ofputter head holders may be used as long as they grip the club head 12tightly to prevent twisting in a position square to the putting line andas long as they are securely attached to the belt 13.

I will now discuss the operation of my novel putting exerciser andanalyzer and it will be readily apparent how the elements of my devicefunction in a new. and unobvious manner to provide a novel and highlyeffective putting training device. My invention not only affords a meansto provide for constant repetitive stroking in precisely the propermanner but it also provides a means whereby any deviation from theproper strokeeither by improperly curving the putting line on the backstroke or by twisting the putting head 12 is immediately indicated tothe golfer holding the putter either by the feel trarw mitted throughthe golf club due to a reactive force of the belt 13 on the putter head12 or by the wrinkling or twisting of the belt 13 which is visuallyapparent.

When using my novel putting exerciser 10, it is useful to have a meansfor indicating to the golfer the point at which a simulated impact is tooccur. This point should generally be mid-way between the rollers 14 and15 and to locate it, I use a simulated golf ball target 45 which may bemerely a round piece of sheet metal painted white to resemble a golfball and mounted on a suitable sup port 46. The support 46 preferablyhas a height, as shown in FIGS. 2" and 4 which is just sufficient toallow thetarget 45 to overlap and lay partially on a raised side portion19. Thus the target is free to be movedeasily to any desired positionalong the base member 16 and yet it will remain in whatever position itis placed.

Itis essential for best results with my invention that the rollers 14and 15 bespaced at the proper distance apart so that the sag in the belt13 is a predetermined amount. One reason for this is that on theback-swing of the putting stroke, according to the accepted recommendedtechnique, the' club head 12 does not sweep upward a very large amountbut rather is only raised only slightly from the level at the point ofimpact with the ball as the club head is drawn straight back along theputting line. As shown in FIG. 2, the belt length is adjusted so thatduring this back-swing the club head 12 will be kept slightly above thelevel of impact by the tension in the belt 13. As the club head 12'moves forward during the putting stroke with the same amount of tensionbeing applied to the belt 13 by the club head 12 the head 12 will followthe path of a normal putting stroke, and just at the point where theclub head would normally engage a ball (as indicated by the simulatedball target 45), the upper strand 32 of the belt 13 will engage and rubagainst thelower strand 47 of the belt 13 which is riding in therecessed area 18 of the base member 16. Therubbing together of the twobelt strands 32 and 47 creates an amount of friction which simulates theinertia effect of actually striking a ball. When the stroke is beingmade properly, just the proper amount of tension is being applied to thebelt 13 which indicates proper position of the club head 12 relative tothe ground surface, and as the point of impact is reached, the rubbingtogether of the upper and lower belt strands 32 and 4'7 also produces anaudible singing noise. Thus, the golfer when exercising the properputting stroke can not only check his stroke visually and by the feel ofthe club, but also by the noise of the belt strands when they properlyengage at just the point of simulated impact.

The tendency to twist the putter head from the desired position, thatis, precisely square with the putting line,

is immediately noticeable on my novel training device. The belt 13having a width only slightly less than the width of the rollers 1d and15 between the flanges 22, is therefore restricted to travel in onepredetermined direction, that is along the putting line which isperpendicular to the axes of the roller shafts 26 and 27 and parallel tothe longitudinal markings 17 on the base member 16. The lower stand 47of the belt 13 also rides in the longitudinal recession 13 which furtherhelps to confine the belt movement in the direction of the putting line.Thus during the bacleswing, any t ndency of the golfer to back-swing inan are away from the straight putting line is immediately noticeablebecause the belt 1'3 will resist the side force component exerted by theclub head 12. Equally important is the common tendency to twist the clubhead 12 from the correct position of being square with the putting lineduring the back-swing. Since there is a certain amount of flexibilityand freedom of movement with the belt 13, any such twisting of theattached club head 12 is immediately noticeable by a wrinkling ortwisting of the belt ith the indications provided by the visual checkwith and the reactive forces of the belt, the golfer can quicklyascertain the correct putting stroke along a straight line approachingthe point of impact with the club head constantly square with thisputting line. An important factor with my invention is that it isequally effective for golfers with various putting forms, such as thewrist putter, the arm putter or the arm and wrist putter. Once thecorrect putting stroke has been established, it can be practiced overand over again on my device until the indications are that it is beingperformed correctly. Later, during actual play the golfer will be ableto know by the feel of the club and his stance, grip, etc., when thestroke is being made properly.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, manychanges in construction and widely differing embodiments andapplications of the invention will suggest themselves without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and thedescription herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be inany sense limiting.

I claim:

1. A training device for indicating and exercising the proper puttingstroke for golfers comprising: a pair of rollers fixed at apredetermined fixed distance apart; means for mounting said rollers in afreely rotatable position above ground level; a continuous flexible beltextending around both of said rollers, said belt having a total lengthgreater than twice the distance between the centers of said rollers plusone-half the circumferences of said rollers, the upper strand of saidbelt thus having suflicient slack to deflect downward toward its lowerstrand; a single golf club head gripping adjustable means fixed to saidbelt for retaining the putting head of a golf club on the upper strandof said belt; whereby said golf club head is movable between saidrollers on said belt and is guided thereby through a normal puttingstroke.

2. A training device for indicating and exercising the proper puttingstroke for golfers comprising: a base member; a pair of rollers mountedat opposite ends of said base member; a continuous belt attached aroundsaid rollers; a golf club having a head portion; a single adjustableclamp member attached to said belt for retaining the head portion ofsaid golf club in a fixed rigid position on the upper strand of saidbelt; whereby when said golf club is moved through a normal stroke theclub head is biased along a predetermined straight line pathway.

3. A training device for indicating and exercising the proper pudnlgstroke for golfers comprising: a base memher; a pair of freely rotatablerollers mounted at opposite ends of said base member; a continuousbeltaround said rollers, thereby forming an upper and a lower beltportion, said belt having a length sufficient to allow the engagement ofthe upper belt portion with the lower belt portion at only theapproximate midway position between said rollers; means for retainingthe head of a golf club on said upper portion of said belt; whereby whenthe golf club is moved through a normal stroke the club head is biasedalong a predetermined straight line pathway and any tendency to twistthe club head or to deviate from said pathway is resisted by and causeswrinkling of the i. The device as described in claim 3 wherein said forretaining said golf club head includes a base 11 fixed to said belthaving an upright flange, and ad ustable means for engaging the rear ofsaid club head and fixing said club head in position with its faceagainst said upright flange.

5. A training device for indicating and exercising the proper puttingstroke for golfers comprising: a base member; a pair of freely rotatablerollers mounted at opposite ends of said base member, each said rollerhaving flanged edges defining a central roller area; a continuous belthaving a width slightly less than said central roller area and adaptedto pass around said rollers, thereby forming an upper and a lower beltportion, said belt having a length sufficient to allow said upper beltportion to be pressed downward to engage the lower belt portion at onlythe approximate midway position between said rollers; means forretaining the'head of a golf club in a predetermined fixed position onsaid upper portion of said belt; whereby when the golf club is movedthrough a normal stroke the club head is biased along a predeterminedstraight line pathway and auytendency to deviate from said pathway isresisted by and causes wrinkling of the belt.

6. The device as described in claim 5 wherein said belt is made fromflexible material having a rough surface for producing a characteristicsound during the engagement of said upper and lower belt portions whensaid golf club head reaches a simulated impact point near said midwayposition between said rollers.

7. The device described in claim 6 including a simulated golf balltarget supported by said base member adjacent said impact point nearsaid midway positions between said rollers.

8. The device described in claim 5 including means for adjusting thelongitudinal position of at least one of said rollers on said basemember to thereby control the tension of said belt.

9i The device described in claim 5 including spaced apart visualreference lines extending longitudinally along the top surface of saidbase member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSSchwarzkopf July 18, 1939 2,932,378 Smith Apr. 12, 1960

2. A TRAINING DEVICE FOR INDICATING AND EXERCISING THE PROPER PUTTINGSTROKE FOR GOLFERS COMPRISING: A BASE MEMBER; A PAIR OF ROLLERS MOUNTEDAT OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID BASE MEMBER; A CONTINUOUS BELT ATTACHED AROUNDSAID ROLLERS; A GOLF CLUB HAVING A HEAD PORTION; A SINGLE ADJUSTABLECLAMP MEMBER ATTACHED TO SAID BELT FOR RETAINING THE HEAD PORTION OFSAID GOLF CLUB IN A FIXED RIGID POSITION ON THE UPPER STRAND OF SAIDBELT; WHEREBY WHEN SAID GOLF CLUB IS MOVED THROUGH A NORMAL STROKE THECLUB HEAD IS BIASED ALONG A PREDETERMINED STRAIGHT LINE PATHWAY.